April 22, 2026
Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights is, without much competition, the most expansive and fact-sensitive provision in the Convention. It protects four overlapping but distinct interests – private life, family life, home and correspondence – and it has grown, through the Strasbourg Court’s dynamic interpretation, into a...
April 20, 2026
Zipvit claimed input VAT deductions for postal services from Royal Mail that were mistakenly treated as VAT-exempt by all parties. The Supreme Court referred questions to the Court of Justice regarding whether VAT could be deemed 'paid' or 'due' when neither party charged nor accounted for it, and whether alternative...
April 20, 2026
A woman rendered infertile due to negligent cervical cancer screening sought damages for surrogacy costs. The Supreme Court held damages could include costs of commercial surrogacy abroad using donor eggs, departing from earlier restrictive precedent, reflecting changed social attitudes to family formation. Facts The claimant, born in 1983, underwent cervical...
April 20, 2026
Insurers sought to recover settlement payments made after a vessel was deliberately scuttled. The Bank, as assignee and loss payee under the marine insurance policy, challenged English court jurisdiction. The Supreme Court held the Bank was entitled to protection under EU Regulation section 3 on insurance matters and must be...
April 20, 2026
The appellant challenged the Home Secretary's decision to provide mutual legal assistance to the United States without obtaining death penalty assurances regarding her son, suspected of terrorism offences in Syria. The Supreme Court unanimously held the decision unlawful under the Data Protection Act 2018, as the Secretary of State failed...
April 20, 2026
A Pakistani national trafficked to the UK as a child for forced labour challenged his removal. The Supreme Court held that immigration tribunals are not bound by National Referral Mechanism trafficking decisions and must make their own factual findings. Removal would breach Article 4 ECHR as no effective investigation of...
April 20, 2026
Capital allowances for preparatory survey costs denied: "on the provision of plant" requires a close connection to the plant itself.
April 20, 2026
Orsted claimed capital allowances for expenditure on environmental surveys and studies conducted when planning offshore windfarms. The Supreme Court held that such expenditure was not ‘on the provision of plant’ under section 11(4) of the Capital Allowances Act 2001, as the phrase requires a close connection between expenditure and the...
April 20, 2026
The appellant, diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, made and possessed HMTD explosive for personal experimentation and self-education regarding how explosives work. The Supreme Court held that experimentation and self-education are capable of being lawful objects under section 4(1) of the Explosive Substances Act 1883, allowing the defence to proceed to...
April 20, 2026
A Rwandan refugee was detained pending deportation based on the 2004 Order specifying particularly serious crimes. The Order was later declared ultra vires. The Supreme Court held that detention founded on an unlawful deportation order was itself unlawful, entitling the appellant to pursue damages for false imprisonment. Facts The appellant,...
April 20, 2026
Mrs McGuinness challenged the Department of Justice's calculation of Michael Stone's tariff expiry date for parole consideration. The Supreme Court held it lacked jurisdiction as the proceedings were not a 'criminal cause or matter' under the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978, meaning appeals should go to the Court of Appeal...
April 20, 2026
Swedish-Romanian investors obtained an ICSID arbitration award against Romania for breaching a bilateral investment treaty. Romania sought to stay enforcement pending EU proceedings, arguing enforcement would constitute unlawful State aid. The Supreme Court held that the UK's pre-accession obligations under the ICSID Convention, owed to non-EU member states, were protected...
April 20, 2026
The claimant was subject to an unlawful eight-hour daily curfew with electronic tagging for 891 days. The Supreme Court held this constituted false imprisonment at common law, as enforced compliance through threats of prosecution and detention amounted to confinement, regardless of whether it met the ECHR's deprivation of liberty test....
April 20, 2026
A quarry extension in the Green Belt was granted planning permission. The issue was whether 'openness' in Green Belt policy required visual impact assessment. The Supreme Court held visual impact is not a mandatory consideration under the openness proviso; it is a matter of planning judgement, not law. Facts Darrington...
April 20, 2026
The Attorney General for Northern Ireland sought to refer a devolution issue concerning whether the Department for Communities' provision of postcode lists to implement Universal Credit breached ECHR rights. The Supreme Court refused to accept the reference, finding the act too remote from the alleged incompatibility. Facts The Attorney General...
April 20, 2026
FMX imported garlic falsely declared as Cambodian origin, avoiding customs duty. HMRC communicated a post-clearance customs debt demand after the normal three-year limit but within reasonable time, as the imports involved acts liable to give rise to criminal proceedings. The Supreme Court held that where article 221(4) applies, the three-year...
April 20, 2026
Timothy Crosland, a barrister and director of Plan B Earth, deliberately breached an embargo on a Supreme Court judgment concerning Heathrow Airport expansion to publicise climate change concerns. The court found him in contempt, imposed a £5,000 fine and £15,000 costs. His appeal was dismissed, with the majority confirming jurisdiction...
April 20, 2026
Dispute over control of Venezuelan Central Bank assets in England between boards appointed by rival claimants to Venezuela's presidency. The Supreme Court held that HMG's recognition of Guaidó as interim President was conclusive under the one voice principle, and that foreign act of state doctrine prevented questioning executive appointments, subject...
April 20, 2026
The appellant, who identifies as non-gendered, challenged the Home Secretary's policy requiring passports to display only male or female gender markers. The Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the appeal, holding that neither Article 8 nor Article 14 of the ECHR imposed an obligation on the UK to issue passports with an...
April 20, 2026
Appeals concerning deaths and ill-treatment during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The Court examined whether the Human Rights Act 1998 imposed investigative obligations under Articles 2 and 3 ECHR for events predating its commencement, determining that the critical date for the genuine connection test is 2 October 2000. The Court...
April 20, 2026
A slaughterhouse challenged the Food Standards Agency's refusal to use section 9 Food Safety Act 1990 procedure after an Official Veterinarian declared a carcass unfit for human consumption. The Supreme Court, following CJEU guidance, held section 9 incompatible with EU food safety regulations, and judicial review provides sufficient remedy. Facts...
April 17, 2026
Four British Christians claimed workplace discrimination for manifesting their faith. Eweida was barred from wearing a visible cross at British Airways; Chaplin from wearing one as a nurse; Ladele refused to register civil partnerships; McFarlane refused to counsel same-sex couples. The Court found violation only for Eweida, holding her employer...
April 17, 2026
Job offers can be withdrawn, but employers risk breach of contract or discrimination claims if conditions are misused or bias drives the decision.
April 17, 2026
Bank Mellat, an Iranian commercial bank, challenged a Treasury order restricting its access to UK financial markets due to alleged connections with Iran's nuclear weapons programme. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, finding the order was both procedurally unfair for lack of prior consultation and substantively disproportionate as it arbitrarily...
April 17, 2026
Phyllis Sullivan, a job applicant who was unsuccessful in applications to the Council, claimed detriment for making a protected disclosure to her MP about alleged financial irregularities. The Court held that employment legislation protecting workers and NHS job applicants who make protected disclosures, but not job applicants generally, is compatible...
August 25, 2026
National Case Law Archive
August 25, 2026
National Case Law Archive
August 25, 2026
National Case Law Archive